prinz@cod.NOSC.MIL (Robert A. Prinzivalli) (12/13/90)
Hello,
I am a systems engineer (EE) who is attempting to help
the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Wildlife Conservation Inter
national (WCI) with a technical solution to one of their more
difficult problems. The problem is how to count elephants in a
rainforest.
One method that is the current hot topic of debate is
whether or not infrared detectors would be able to detect the
presence of an elephant's thermal emissions (at night?) through a
dense forest canopy. Since there seems to be no clear proof
either way we would like to conduct some tests to answer this
question once and for all.
We are considering two tests to be conducted here at the San
Diego Wild Animal Park. The first test is simply to determine
was the frequency of any thermal emissions might be. Since this
is not my area of expertise I would like someone out there to
tell me what type of instrument would be best for this purpose; a
bolometer, a radiance spectrometer or a radiometer? Also, do you
know where I may be able to rent or (preferably) borrow. The
second test would be from a small plane with some portable
instrument capable of detecting emissions of the type indicated
by the first experiment. Again, what type of instrument would be
best suited for this experiment and do you know where I might
rent or borrow one. The KWS and WCI have very little money to
spend on this project so we will have to rent or borrow the
instrument unless it is very inexpensive.
Thanks in advance for any assistance you can give.
Bob Prinzivalli